'Covid vaccine slot glitches because of mismanagement by staff, not CoWIN'

CoWIN platform facilitates registration (in both online and on-site modes), scheduling of appointments, vaccination and certification of beneficiary during Covid-19 vaccination process

Updated on: Jun 1, 2021, 10:13:45 IST

By Rhythma Kaul

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Beneficiaries are not able to get the Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine shot, despite a confirmed slot online, due to poor management by the staff at the vaccination centre, and not due to glitches in the CoWIN digital platform, said the Centre.

“Availability of slots on Co-WIN portal is based on the vaccination schedule published by district immunisation officer (DIO)/session site in-charge which in turn depends upon availability of vaccines. States/UTs have been advised that they should publish vaccination slots based on the availability of vaccines. The Union Government has also instructed all states/UTs to give preference to beneficiaries with online appointments than to on-site registrations,” said Union health ministry in a statement on Monday.

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CoWIN platform facilitates registration (in both online and on-site modes), scheduling of appointments, vaccination and certification of beneficiary during Covid-19 vaccination process.

It was brought to the notice of the authorities that in some cases, the DIOs were publishing a session but were cancelling them or sending the beneficiaries back if vaccines were in short supply, causing inconvenience to those who had already booked their appointments.

To address this problem, CoWIN has provided the feature for rescheduling of vaccination sessions so that the DIO does not have to cancel them. Provision has also been made so that pre-booked appointments also get rescheduled when a session is rescheduled. In such cases, the beneficiary will not have to take a fresh appointment.

They will also receive an SMS informing them about rescheduling of their session. The system still provides the option of rescheduling or cancellation to the beneficiaries.

Appointment rescheduling is also meant for those who took the first dose of Serum Institute of India’s Covishield vaccine before the dosing interval was increased to 12-16 weeks.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rhythma Kaul
Rhythma Kaul is the national health editor of the Hindustan Times. She has been reporting on public health, medicine, and medical research, with a particular focus on how government decisions and health system reforms shape people’s lives. Rhythma has over 25 years of journalistic experience. She joined Hindustan Times in 2008, and has since covered everything from pandemics and infectious diseases to cutting‑edge medical research and climate‑related health challenges. Her stories routinely track the work of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, department of pharmaceuticals, and key national health programmes, making complex medical science and policy accessible to a wide audience. One of her prominent news breaks has been the 2012 Baby Falak case: A two-year-old brutally battered baby girl was admitted to AIIMS-Delhi with severe head injuries, multiple fractures, human bite marks, and burns. The police investigation revealed this to be a case of multi-state human-trafficking racket. She was profiled by The Wall Street Journal for breaking this story. Rhythma holds a Master’s degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. Prior to Hindustan Times, she worked with the India Today Group. Rhythma can be contacted at rhythma.kaul@hindustantimes.com. Her X handle is @RamblingBrook.Read More

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